GAO Says FTZ Board Must Better Document Application Consideration Process
The Foreign-Trade Zones Board should do a better job of recording its consideration of the required criteria when reviewing FTZ applications, the Government Accountability Office said in a newly released report. While FTZ board staff said they document only the…
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most relevant criteria, the GAO said more is needed. "Without such documentation, the Board lacks an institutional record that all required criteria were considered and also lacks assurance that its decisions comply with U.S. trade and tariff law and public policy," the GAO said. The GAO reviewed a sample of 59 notifications from 2012 to 2017 and found "ten notifications were denied for reasons such as new or complex policy issues that required further review," it said. The review was done at the request of Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and other lawmakers. The FTZ Board executive secretary "has updated the applicable internal procedures memorandum regarding the processing of applications for production authority to include" the GAO's recommendations, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a Nov. 8 response.